Craig,
I usually don't blog to your write-ups because I don't particularly appreciate your assessments of the shows. And today's review confirms that. Your last remark "If Katharine had shown any cleavage at all it would be a no doubt" ... oh please!! That's a really stupid remark. Every other writer and critic and regular viewer of A.I. are ALL raving about Elliot's performance last night! How can you write that you think he's the next to go??

Are you really that much of a chauvinist to think that if Katharine hung her boobs out there, she'd get more votes!!?? It's about singing talent, Craig!!! And Elliot blew everyone out of the water last night. Come on' America!! Someone back me up here!!

Craig, you are WAY OFF BASE!!!

Judge Judi, I couldn't disagree more and it isn't a stupid remark just because you don't agree with it. In fact, I think the stupid remark is to say that this show is all about singing.

Have you seen the NBC show Las Vegas? How about Baywatch? These aren't riveting shows with amazing dialogue. They are/were popular shows with slow-motion, silicone enhanced shots of bombshells. My saying that Katharine would get more votes with more cleavage isn't some crazy out-of-touch revelation.

The fact is that straight male viewers like sexy women.

Are you disputing that fact Judi?

Does that really make me a chauvinist or just someone who is pointing out a fact?

To think this is only about singing is crazy.

Are there any "straight male viewers" out there that can see PAST Katharine's boobs to agree with me that she is NOT the best singer on the show!!?? Craig, the fact that you even watch shows like Las Vegas and Baywatch speaks volumes of your "television watching discretion!!" Fine! I know that men like watching sexy woman, but they can tune into shows like Miss America for that!!

Regardless of what you say, American Idol is a singing talent show! Yes, having the package would be nice, but are you telling me that Rueben Studdard, or Fantasia were PLEASANT to look at!!??? They won because of their voices!!! GEEZ!!

Elliot should win this competition hands down!

Judge Judi, I agree with you. Elliot
is fantastic. I think Katherine has a
great voice, but there have been
numerous songs she sang that she just
blew it. I certainly would hope that
such an idiotic statement about her
showing more boob would not have an
influence on her being voted off or not.

When Kat's cleavage isn't popping out and she's not popping strategically placed buttons, you see what's really there. I disagree with your chosing Elliott to go home and Chris staying. Chris is teetering on the brink tonight. Let's see if he falls off...I though, am leaning towards Kat waving bye-bye and her McFather taking her home.

Judge Judi, I am not trying to actually make my opinions on the contestants when I write these reviews.

I think the two best all around talents left are Chris and Elliott, but I am just trying to review the show. It is my opinion that while the performances matter to an extent, sometimes they don't.

Remember when Kellie screwed up her song royally and America still voted to keep her on? Was American Idol "just a singing contest" that night? Or were people voting on things other than just pure vocals?

Look, you seem to be carrying some hostility toward me for my review and my opinion, but the fact remains that I am looking at the way the show, its performers, and their individual performances react with the voting public. I am not trying to say who I like the best and want to win. I am trying to keep it a little bit objective.

And as for Las Vegas, I find this show really shlocky and fun. It is kind of nice to watch one superficial show with easy to understand storylines, some eye candy and a bit of humor. It is a campy show not unlike the Charlie's Angels movies.

Baywatch was the greatest show in the world because when it was on, I was about 13 or 14 years old and it would give any 13-year-old that funny feeling climbing the rope in gym class thing. It is a fact. I have heard older guys say the same things about Lynda Carter in that Wonder Woman outfit. Is it so far out of the realm of possibility to think that Katharine could be doing the same thing for a whole new generation of boys who are watching the show?

Come on.

Craig, you are an idiot, go back to your dark corner in your basement and continue doing what I assume you are doing after watching the "boobs" on AI, and I really don't care that you got "the funny feeling" while doing your rope in grade school or was that just yesterday with your rope and AI?

Idolboomer and Jewels are right on, Eliott was fantastic and Taylor should go tonite.

Judge Judi, I don't know you but you go girl!!

Sizzlin, no personal attacks please. If you don't have anything constructive to say go back to your silly little message boards where there are no rules, and better yet, no real civil conversation.

Craig suggests here that Elliot had more "help" from the producers. Actually, the others have had far more help in past shows, and Elliot has been the last one to spruce up his act with production schtick. In past weeks Chris has had special classical guitarists by his side and lead rock guitarists in other numbers, and other special effects. Taylor has had guitar and saxophone band members rocking it up with him. Catherine had those special drummers last week accompanying her to great effect, and has had breasts and legs spilling out over the camera in other numbers. So, Elliot finally had some LONG OVERDUE attention from the producers.

They had been ignoring him hoping he would go away, probably because they saw the least marketing potential with him. BUT they finally must have realized that he is in the same looks catgory as James Blunt, Adam Sandler, Dylan and others who have a not-exactly-handsome-but-sexy-Cuteness that is all the rage now.

Mattola was shameless in his promotion of Catherine and Chris, with his eyes full of dollar signs at the thought of their marketing potential. He had no kind words for Elliot, but Elliot really really showed him! Mattola was condescendingly saying he hoped Elliot could remember the words- and then Catherine forgot hers! Catherine had the "Bar Mitzva" performance and Elliot was the Surprise Star!!

Elliot has had to rely only on his voice all this time and the American public was able to appreciate that and see through the others' use of body parts, special effects and glitz. The producers were probably hoping to ignore Elliot but finally had to start paying attention to him now that they see he has a devoted fan base for good reason. He has ENERGY, Likability, Cuteness, a Heart, and a good voice.

Taylor should go tonight? Obviously, that is your opinion, but where did you get that from anything said earlier? Trust me: Taylor will not go home tonight. In fact, I am going to bite the bullet and predict that Taylor Hicks will win.

Sorry Craig, but you STARTED this with your remark about Katharine's cleavage. If you were being objective (as you claim) you would recognize TALENT and put the remarks about their appearance away. You didn't comment on my remark about Rueben or Fantasia, and their wonderful LOOKS?? And I can't even comment on the "gym class thing" ... yuck, can't go there!!

Their looks may play a PART in it, but it's NOT what this competition is about. I apologize if I seemed "hostile" to you in any way. I just thought your remarks were short-sighted and NOT very objective at all.

Melanie - you had a great review! Insightful and very objective!! I like your comparison to Sandler and Dylan ... GO ELLIOT!!

I can't put remarks about their appearances away because it is my opinion that people vote on them. Trust me. I am not getting all hot and bothered personally by Katharine. I passed puberty over 10 years ago. It isn't my opinion that Katharine is incredibly hot or anything. It is my opinion that between her cleavage showing, and her crawling around the stage on her knees that she is playing the "Sexpot Card" and it is working on occasion with voters. For the record, I have never voted for a single contestant.

As for Reuben and Fantasia, I can't comment on Fantasia because I didn't watch that season.

As for Reuben, keep in mind that he was up against Clay. I have read some opinions that have stated something interesting about the Clay vs. Reuben thing. When it came to that vote, you had two very talented singers. I wish I had a link to the article, but it said that America's perception of Clay Aiken as an effeminate male probably hurt him extraordinarily.

And even short of pointing out America's potential homophobia, Clay Aiken is no looker. In a looks competition, who is better looking? Clay or Reuben? I can't even guess what America's answer would be.

Sorry for the "personal attack".
Civil conversation? I guess rubbing up against a rope is really civil, but since I like silly boards, I wouldn't know about that.

Melanie, I couldn't have said it better.

By the way, NR Davis, I have been skeptical of Taylor's chances all the way along, but honestly, I would no longer be that surprised to see Taylor win it all. I find it somewhat inexplicable because he can be so cheesy. But at the same time, he has talent and he is a whole lot of fun.

Maybe he can go all the way. You will look like something of an oracle if it does happen, NR Davis.

Tonight's result show made me PUKE!!! Katharine KNOWS she should have been voted off. Maybe Mr and Mrs McPhee are paying people to vote for their pathetic daughter?? What else could this be? Even Simon KNEW Katharine SHOULD have gone home.

The only thing that makes me feel "alright" with America's decision tonight is that I KNOW Chris Daughtry will record a CD and have it go platinum!!

Katharine - please take your BOOBS and get them off of my TV!!!!

Craig Lyndall, I've been blogging and writing and promoting and writing to 'protect' Taylor Hicks from (19E)evil since January. Since you call Ms. Davis an oracle (she and I share taste in music and other things) what am I? - He will win this.

A.I. is learning an important lesson.

Jewels -
What does THAT mean ... "AI is learning an important lesson." ??? That you can act like a moran, and jump and scream and fall down on the stage, and THAT proves you have talent?? I will say that Taylor has a "decent" voice ... certainly better than Bucky or Kelly. But an American Idol?? I don't think so. Who's going to buy his CD's?? What kind of music is he going to perform on his CD? I'm sorry, but convulsing on stage is NOT my idea of "entertainment."

Can't believe Chris is outta here. Hope Elliott takes it over Taylor.

Judge Judi, I think we can put the notion that this is a singing contest to rest. If it was really a singing contest, Katharine would have gone home this week.

Yep, I hate to admit it, but America has turned this reality TV show into a popularity contest for sure! And I KNOW that people are NOT voting based on each night's performances either! If they were, Katharine would have been outta there! Even Simon knew it!

I can only hope that Chris' voters will now call in for Elliot!! I'm just not going to be able to survive watching the remainder of the season, now that I have to watch Taylor and Katharine make complete idiots of themselves ... one dancing around like a fool, and the other hanging her boobs out for American to see. I know that YOU'LL like the boobs thing, Craig!

Funny. I don't even find her that hot, though. And seriously when Randy told her about some pitch problems about a month ago, and she said "Well that isn't anything they can't fix in a studio" I just wanted to shoot her. Try performing your songs. If we wanted to hear someone's performances perfected with machines, we would pick someone with more personality than you, Katharine.

I agree, Craig. Anyone can sing in a studio and have them "digitally" fix their performances.

See Craig!? We agree on something. We're almost friends again!

Rock on. And if the cleavage monster goes home next week, I imagine we will agree on another thing! :-)

I can't believe she survived this week.

Just promise me that you'll call in some votes for my man, Elliot? I'm on a "war path" to make sure that TALENT wins out, and not theatrics!

Actually, I think Taylor, while different, has a lot of talent too. I don't think either Elliott or Taylor would hurt the show's reputation. They are both worthy winners. Good luck with your crusade though. Taylor seems pretty damn popular for whatever reason.

It's because he deserves the prize, IOO. Check out his own material - you may be surprised. Taylor Hicks is an accomplished singer, musician and songwriter - and, yes, an enthusiastic performer and passionate artist. A lot of people don't get him and that's fair, but on the other hand, a lot of us DO get him and appreciate his talent, his charisma and, yes, his art. Should Elliott win, he'll win. He's a talented singer. These days he is exhibiting a bit more personality. But he bores me. I won't buy his stuff, not because I don't like Elliott, but because he is not my thing. Taylor? He's the only one of the finalists whose music I would purchase. The only one. And I suspect I am not alone on that. Simon Cowell and 19E and Tommy Mottola need to understand that the marketplace ways of the starmaker machinery of old are changing on the consumer side. If Taylor pulls off the win, that will be a sign of that.

(Spread that word to the Soul Patrol: A Taylor win is a way to send a meaningful message to the music biz and radio powers that be. Even more importantly, it helps the person we genuinely believe is the most deserving to be this year's American Idol, Taylor Hicks.)

Sorry ... I don't GET Taylor Hicks. At any rate, if Taylor ends up winning, he STILL won't sell as many CD's as Chris Daughtry is going to sell. You can bet on that!!

I don't think Chris has anything new to bring that Creed and other haven't already done. And his AI pedigree won't fly with the real rock crowd. So I don't see him being that big of a success.

Talor has personality, Elliot has sympathy, and Katherine has sex. They all have good voices, but none as good as previous idol winners. Frankly it's a crap-shoot at this stage (no pun intended).

Paris probably had the most raw talent, but it was very raw. If she keeps at it, it a couple years she'll be bigger than all of them.

American Idol is about being a star. Elliot looks like an elf, Taylor is goofy, but I can't take my eyes off of Kat.

She will win because she is talented and make the other two look like gnomes.

Kat's boy

Anyone who can make an Elf look like a gnome is a winner in my book.

I think several assumptions made in this discussion are false.

1) Katherine is only hot when compared to Melissa McGhee, Paris and Mandisa. She has wonderfully sparkly eyes, but that's about it.
2) Straight men are probably the least important demographic for this show. I'm pretty much the only straight guy I know that will admit watching AI. And I would guess that EVERY other demographic votes at a higher rate than straight men (apathy is cool!); this is what really matters for the purposes of this discussion.
3)The idea that anyone, even straight men, is going to vote for the best looking girl is wrong anyway. If that were true, and these alleged votes have a strong effect on the outcome, how can we explain the success of Kelly Clarkson, Kim Locke, and Fantasia Burrino -- and just so nobody thinks I'm trying to be PC here, I'll go ahead and call them all pigs -- not to mention the (relatively) early exits for Jasmine Trias, Julie DeMato, Kim Caldwell, Kelly Pickler, and Carmen Rasmusen? (I'd have to concede Carrie Underwood as something of an exception to this trend, but I wasn't all that attracted to her myself.)

I'd like to give my thoughts on Tuesday's show, but I'm in danger of writing a book, here, so I'll start another post.

Now that I've managed to serve my long-held ambition to call Kelly Clarkson a pig in front of hundreds of people, I'll tell you what I thought about Tuesday's show and the results.

I am quite pleased about Chris' exit. I was sick and tired of his Stone Temple Pilots impersonation. What Simon called uncomprising (and also unadventurous), I call boring and limited. Chris was my early favorite contestant, and I quite like that style of music, but the whole point of the themed shows is to make contestants push their limits, and I don't think Chris ever did that. Chris has undeniable stage presence, but I felt like I was seeing the same performances week in and week out. And I want to go on record here and say this opinion has nothing whatsoever to do with the way my wife moons over him. She also likes Vin Diesel and me, so it's clear she just has no taste.

Based solely on the performances of Tuesday, Katherine surely deserved to go, but I was pleased to see her get another chance. Which, based on recent form, she'll promptly blow. I don't agree that the arrangement of "Can't Help Falling in Love" was weak -- I thought it quite appropriate for a female singer doing Elvis, but she just didn't have the lungs to pull it off that night. She's got a lovely voice, but hasn't given a strong performace in weeks.

I was most pleased with Elliot's success. Since the Hollywood shows, I've thought he was the most flat-out talented and had the most emotional voice, and he's finally starting to turn in performances that do credit to his talent. The idea that the producers had a lot to do with that is interesting, but not entirely convincing. I found his expression (vocal and facial) on "Trouble," for example, quite engaging. The judges were right on Tuesday: those were two of the best performances I've seen this season and both would make a 5-season AI highlights show.

I was surprised to read on ZabaSearch that Taylor had the highest vote total by a significant margin, but maybe I shouldn't be. (I've voted for him myself once or twice.) Anyone that thinks it's impossible for him to have a commercial career is way off base. The soul songs his voice is so well suited for have been almost universally popular for 40 years, now -- there's a reason that kind of song is done so frequently on AI -- and his passion for the genre come through in his singing AND in his "goofy" dancing. The guy is a really effective performer -- and by that I mean that he can make his audience feel the way he wants them to, to a far greater extent than anyone AI's had at least since Ruben Studdard. I think he's going to win it. I don't want him to -- I'll probably be voting for Elliot from here on out -- but I think he's going to do it.

I THINK YOU SHOULD GO TO HELL AND BEFORE YOU DO GO MEET WITH THE DEVIL YOU NEED TO CHECK YOU WEBSITE AND UPDATE IT CAUSE TAYLOR AND KAT IS IN THE FINALE AND TAYLOR IS GOING TO WIN SO HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!